Surgery in Germany vs US

.....Continued
I woke up in the recovery room around 12:30, pretty nauseous from the anesthesia and it took maybe another hour until I was somewhat fully aware of what was going on. During this time i was constantly supervised by nurses, along with other patients coming out of surgery. When they rolled me back to my room, i did have an episode of extreme nausea accompanied by vomiting.
I was hooked up to an IV for hydration/nutrition, and some pain killer.
Later in the day they came with the evening meal which i refused as i was not ready to eat. They left couple of pieces of toast with cheese next to my night stand, which i eventually ate few hours later. During the rest of the day the nurses came in to check on me. At one point the surgeon also came by to let me know that the surgery went really well (prostate, 2 lymph nodes and 30 % nerve removal). This last piece for me was a huge positive news as i came into the surgery with the expectancy of loosing at least 50% of the nerves)
As you come out of the surgery you will have a catheter.
The nurses come and check the urine (quality and qty every few hours) this will take place for the first 2-3 days.
Also they will take your vital every few hours throughout the day and draw blood.
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Day 3:
Nausea is gone, but as most of you that had robotic surgery, there is a lot of bloating.
The nurses come in the morning and go through their routine checks. Maybe 30 minutes later, the breakfast comes rolling in (assortment of breads, deli meats, cheeses, marmalade, butter/margarine, yogurt, cereals, fruits, etc. This is the standard breakfast every day.
In the morning i was als able to get out of bed and make a few steps assisted by one of the nurses.
You are being thought how to get out of bed and get dresses with the bath robe while using a catheter as well as receiving training on catheter/penis cleaning and showering instructions.
I have also received a brief back massage from one of the nurses since i was so long in bed without getting up.
That surgeon came by later in the day to check again on me. He came everyday to check on me, except on Saturday and Sunday, including the day of the check out.
This day was also the days when i started to walk around the station. I clocked in about 3000 steps.
To be continued......

@dinu
Those are really wonderful news : ))) !!!
May the rest of your recovery be as smooth and successful and may your whole therapy prove to be top notch and yield amazing results ! < 3
Thanks for sharing your experience here : ))) and for organizing Euro group in general.
It is great too see you in good spirits and what a relief it must be to have such amazing care for 7 days 👍 and I am sure it will continue to be even after with PT program and all.

Wishing you all the best and complete eradication of PC 🍀 !

Wow. That's much better care then here in the states. Glad your surgery went well. Were the instructions in English? or in German?

in Day 3 i still had all the IV Connections in. They said they are only being removed after the first bowl movement.

Day 4: I felt really good and I was able to eat quite a lot. The previous days i was still bloated so could not eat that much.
As the first bowl movement took place, the IV lines came out. As in the previous days the urine was being checked. Day 4 was the last day they drew blood. The vital verification continued until the day of the discharge.
Since the day of the surgery we were given these underpants (web-looking, I called them sexy lingerie, since you would see through them)
The catheter would hook on these underpants, so it would not dangle or snag, as you sleep or move around. This is different from what i experienced in the US, where i had a leg-strapped catheter with urine bag.
In Germany you get this adjustable shoulder bag to carry your urine bag and catheter as you move about.
This day I felt like a million bucks (I clocked in 14000 steps). By the way the, the entire clinic, with the exception of the surgery rooms and the technical rooms, is open for patients to move about).
As I explored the building, I discovered to other floors.
Ground Floor: reception area, some investigation rooms and the MRI and Xray areas. In the waiting area there is also free coffee and water.
Floor 1: additional investigation rooms and administrative offices.
Floor 2: Surgery Floor
Floor 3: Stations 3.1 and 3.2 These is where most state insured patients will be staying. There are 25 double rooms so a total of 50 patients can be on this floor at one time. The floor has a lounge with chairs and coffee tables and water dispenser, free coffee, teas, snacks. Here you can find magazines and newspaper and visitors can also hang out here. The entire floor is fitted with a metal handrail along the wall to allow you to walk safely in the first day you become mobile in case you are dizzy.
There is a very large open terrace at one end of the hallway, but sine the weather was kind of wet and windy during my stay, i did not get to use it that much.
Floors 4 and 5: identical in size with Floor 3 except here are the private patients lodged. The difference is that they have single rooms instead of double rooms, the lounge is slightly bigger and equipped with a fully-automated state of the art coffee machine (cappuccinos, espressos, machiatos, etc.), a cooler with fruit juices and beer (yes beer). They also get cake in the afternoon, besides the normal snacks. The food quality was slightly better. These floors have smaller terraces that are covered.
Floor 6 is packed with some administrative offices and some conference rooms.

To be continued.....

@jayhall

I've never had any complaints about care in the situations where I had at least one overnight stay.

Never had nausea from anesthesia either.

Day 5: was pretty much identical with day 4. This day I was also shown how to administer my own anti-thrombosis belly injection. I forgot to mention that we got one of those injections in the arm every evening. Also on Day 4 we begin taking Tadalafil 5mg to hep with blood circulation in the penile area and help recover erectile function.
Day 6: You are scheduled for contrast RT of the bladder to see if the surgery is healed an tight and there are no leaks outside of the urethra.
Once this is completed the station doctor on duty comes and performs an ultrasound of the bladder and the kidneys.
If everything is fine the catheter comes out. I had a catheter in before, 2 times and during the removal was not such a pleasant feeling. Here at Martini Clinic would describe the feeling during the catheter removal as a slight breeze along my penis or the touch a a light feather. The nurse was talking to me the whole time while doing this.
Once the catheter was out, you are given instructions on how to use the absorbent pads and given two packs (14 each). After you urinate on your own 2 time they do another ultrasound to make sure the bladder is completely empty.
You get to stay one ore night and then you get released.

Day 7: Discharge
After the morning vitals and breakfast, there is one more ultrasound and then you have to pack your bags and leave the room by 10 AM. You are given instructions on what to expect for the following days and the direct contact to your respective station that you can call after discharge in case you have questions or concerns.
At discharge, you are also given a handful of those anti-thrombosis shots and Tadalafil pills and a handful of pain meds to last you for about few days until you get to your family doctor/urologist and get your own prescription.
To be continued......

.....Continued...
Since most of you may wonder what the costs for such treatment are. Since I am insurred in Germany I only had to pay 2000 Euros for the entire stay.

While I had nothing else to do during my stay, I went to their accounting/billing department and asked them how much would if someone would come from outside Germany without insurance to get treated at Martini Klinik. They mentioned that the highest "package" they offer is 25000 Euros (approx. US $29000 at current exchange rates).
Keep in mind that is is the highest rated Prostate Center of Excellence in Europe and it is up there with the highest rated Centers of Excellence in the world.

Most of their doctors/nurses/staff speak English. And here is their link in case you ant more info.
https://www.martini-klinik.de/en
I do not endorse it in any manner and I do not have any financial gain by writing about it. I just wanted to share my experience and provide you guys with and alternative is case you are considering surgery and the cost is a deciding factor.

As always stay strong and be positive.

Dinu

@surftohealth88
Thanks for the wishes! I am indeed glad that this whole ordeal is over and now all I have to do is wait for the pathology results to see what treatment path I need to take.

@jayhall
As I mentioned most doctors/nurses/staff spoke English sine they are dealing with quite a lot of international patients.